


morning rituals

by birdjay



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Remembers, Bucky Barnes's Hair, Don’t copy to another site, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Morning After, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers is an asshole, brief mention of dick sucking, bucky barnes is an asshole, pure fluff, two idiots in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 11:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17059016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdjay/pseuds/birdjay
Summary: an early morning with two assholes in love.





	morning rituals

"Tell me something," Bucky asked, in a sigh.

"Something," Steve said, automatically. It was a knee-jerk reaction, pushing Bucky's buttons like that. He got steel-grey eyes rolled at him for it. Buck reached out with his metal hand and shoved at Steve's shoulder, too.

Steve grinned at him in the dim light of the bedroom, squinting slightly to be able to see him clearly. Bucky's hair stuck up at odd angles from laying in one spot for too long -- a giant knotted mess hung over one ear. They'd have to pick that out later with conditioner and a comb. His own hair was probably ridiculous too, but who cared? It was just them in bed.

"You know what I mean," Bucky said, with a hint of annoyance. He shifted, and tugged the blankets up over his scarred shoulder. He wasn't as secretive as he used to be about his scars, but he still didn't like them out in the open for very long. Steve figured it was something about keeping your weaknesses hidden, whether or not Bucky wanted to admit it.

"No, not really," he said, raising an eyebrow. He brought a hand up to his mouth, and yawned behind it. What time was it, anyway? They'd fallen into bed around eleven last night, but hadn't actually slept until much, much later. "Whaddya mean?"

Bucky let out another sigh, and rolled over to lay flat on his back. He twisted his head to look at Steve, though. "Tell me something about us. Something about you, about me. Anything I don't know," Bucky said, all in a tone that said Steve should have been able to figure this out.

"Something about us..." Steve echoed under his breath, mostly as a stalling tactic. What did Bucky not know abut them? Or about him, come to think of it. Hadn't he basically word-vomited his own biography at Bucky to try and help him remember who he was? There were little things, though, that got lost.

Steve stretched out a hand towards Bucky, his fingertips just barely brushing against the other man's side. His skin was warm, there, and soft. He wanted to touch more of it, so he did, though that meant having to physically scoot closer. Steve ran his hand along Bucky's hip, and then pushed it up and over onto his ribs. He left it there -- he could feel him take each breath.

"You used to be ticklish," Steve said, after a moment of just listening to quiet around them.

"Yeah?" Bucky responded, lifting his head a little to be able to see him properly.

"Mhm," Steve answered, with a nod. He slid his hand back down and squeezed the skin just above Bucky's hipbone. Bucky didn't jump or squirm away, which confirmed his suspicions. Sometime in the last 70 odd years, Bucky had stopped being ticklish. A short wave of sadness washed over him. He'd miss that. "Right here," He said, with a small smile.

"I don't remember that," Bucky admitted, letting his head fall back down to his pillow.

Steve shrugged. "It wasn't a big thing."

And it really wasn't -- it wasn't like Steve tickled Bucky every chance he got or anything. It usually happened on accident, or if Buck was being a particular kind of ass. Steve was lucky -- he'd never been ticklish a day in his life. If he had been, Bucky would have used that to his advantage.

"Now you tell me something?" Steve asked, voice low. He moved his hand back up onto Bucky's ribs. He liked it there.

Bucky wasn't quiet for nearly as long as Steve had been. Just a beat of breathing, and then he offered up, "I used to steal pencils for you."

Steve's eyes flicked back up towards Bucky's and studied the expression there. From what he could tell, he was telling the truth. But why wouldn't he be? This Bucky wasn't much of a liar. Not to Steve, anyway. "I think I knew that, but tried not to," Steve said. He smiled, and added, "You shouldn't have, though."

Another eyeroll. "You liked drawing. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have been able to draw," Bucky said, as if he was explaining something to a toddler. He shifted, and brought up his hand to rest on top of Steve's.

"It was still stealing, Buck -- "

"I don't regret it," Bucky said, talking over Steve as if he hadn't spoken at all. His fingers pushed down on Steve's harshly, as if warning him not to speak again. "I'd do it again right now, if I had to."

"Buck, you don't -- "

"It made you smile."

"Yeah?" Steve said, all the fight drained out of him.

"Yeah," Bucky confirmed, with a nod. "You used to give me this  _look_ when I'd give you a new pencil." He squeezed Steve's hand once more, and brought it up to his mouth. He pressed a kiss to the back of it -- his lips were warm and soft on Steve's skin. "Used'ta make me feel like a million bucks when you'd smile at me like that."

Steve couldn't help but flash the aforementioned smile. Not when Bucky admitted things like that.

"You again," Bucky said, with a jut of his chin in Steve's direction.

"Alright, lemme think," Steve said, wiggling into a new position on the bed. He pushed Bucky around while he thought, adjusting him to his specifications. They did this every night -- one of them would find a comfortable position and move the other to where they wanted them. Steve ended up flat on his back, and tugged Bucky closer. The other man went with yet another sigh -- this time mostly sarcastic -- and rested his head on Steve's chest, curling around him.

Bucky moved Steve's hand to the top of his head, and then pulled his own back under the covers. Steve knew exactly what he wanted, and slowly began to run his fingers through Bucky's long hair. He tried to avoid the knots, and found there was a small three inch section that he could safely play with.

"I used to draw you all the time," Steve said, after another long minute of deliberation and playing with Bucky's hair.

Bucky blew a raspberry with his lips. "I know that. Everybody knows that."

"No, I mean..." Steve sighed, and tried again. "You were it. I'd draw other people, or things, but always go right back to you. Even if you weren't around, I'd draw you from memory..." He let his voice trail off, and then spoke back up. "I had sketchbooks full of just you."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Steve said, attempting to work his fingers through a particularly messy section of Bucky's hair.

"Kinda creepy, Rogers."

"What!?" Steve said loudly, yanking his fingers out from Bucky's hair.

Bucky laughed, one of his rare ones that lit up his entire face. It would have warmed him head to foot normally, if it hadn't been _at_ him this time. "You filled entire sketchbooks of me? That's stalker behavior, Stevie."

"I wasn't  _stalking_ you, I was  _in love_ with you, you jackass," Steve said, momentarily upset for his past self. He put his hand back down on Bucky's head, but didn't thread his fingers through his hair.

"I know that  _now,_ " Bucky said, with another laugh. His laugh petered out, and then he tilted his head enough to look up at Steve through his lashes. "I was in love with you too, back then." He paused, smiled, and added, "And now, obviously."

"Obviously, he says, _obviously_ ," Steve mimicked, making a face as he did so. He was mostly talking to the ceiling.

"Yeah,  _obviously,_ " Bucky repeated, reaching up and pushing his metal hand into Steve's face. Steve moved his head out of the way, laughing. "I don't let just anyone suck my dick, y'know."

"Oh, no?" Steve laughed, still trying to keep Bucky's metal digits away from his face. It was quickly turning into a wrestling match, as Bucky leveraged himself up onto his real hand to try and shove Steve's face away. Steve reached out with his own long arms to try and push Bucky across the bed. "I thought you had an open door policy..."

" _Rogers_!" Bucky shouted, full of fake affront. He stretched, and flicked Steve on the nose.

"Barnes!" Steve said, cackling as he swiped at the one arm holding Bucky up. It fell out from under him, forcing him to collapse on top of Steve's chest. Steve let out a loud, "Oof!" as two hundred and seventy pounds of super soldier landed on him.

"You deserved that," Bucky said, rolling off of him.

"Probably."

"No, you definitely did," Bucky said, very obviously trying not to laugh. He was cracking at the edges. "Here I was, trying to tell you that I've loved you for a long, long time, and you turn it into a joke."

"Well -- "

"Shut up for a second, will ya?" Bucky said, with the barest hint of a laugh. He laid back down, carefully arranging himself on top of Steve. He rested his chin on Steve's sternum. "Listen, Stevie," The laughter had disappeared from his eyes, replaced with full on affection. "I mean it, I loved you back then. I love you now. I'll probably love you forever."

"Am I allowed to talk now?" Steve asked, raising both his eyebrows.

"Yeah."

"Buck..." he started. He stopped, and took a breath. How was he supposed to top that? He couldn't, though he felt the same way. Bucky probably knew though, right? "I've loved you since you kicked Bobby Richardson's ass into the trashcans for me. I couldn't see 'cause of the blood in my eyes, but I didn't need to cause I knew you were there..."

"Stevie?" Bucky said, gently.

"Mhm?"

"You suck at being romantic."

"Well, we both knew that, didn't we?" Steve responded, with a laugh. He'd never, ever been good at romantic things. He just didn't have it in him. That was all Bucky. He put his hand back onto Bucky's hair, and started to brush it as best he could with his fingers.

"Yeah, well, you're lucky I love you so much," Bucky said, pressing his head into Steve's hand like a puppy.

"I know I am," Steve answered, completely serious for half a second, before adding, "But what are you?"

Bucky made a sound like an electrocuted cat, and launched himself towards Steve's throat.

Steve cackled, and caught him.

**Author's Note:**

> find me at [dreamwidth](https://birdjay.dreamwidth.org/) or [tumblr](http://drclairefraser.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/humdrumvee).


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